Voluntary Sector Project of the Year

The Scout Association

z The Scout Association has introduced an innovative, web-based resource that enables its adult volunteers to develop a balanced weekly programme of activities for more than 360,000 young people involved in scouting throughout the UK.

Programmes Online, developed for the Association by Netcase Web Solutions, is a one-stop shop on the web where adult volunteers can build their programmes from a unique national resource library of activities. More than a simple database, the site allows programmes to be built, edited, printed and emailed.

The time given by its dedicated volunteers is the Scout Association’s most valuable resource. Providing the same level of support using paid staff would cost in excess of £383m a year.

The new system enables volunteers to develop programmes more quickly and effectively, freeing up their time to support other areas of scouting’s development. The Association plans to develop the resource further in future.

Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust

z The largest international wetland conservation charity in the UK, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) is saving more than £17,000 a year in management and maintenance costs alone thanks to a project to optimise systems performance across its limited-bandwidth wide area network (Wan).

WWT employs just two people responsible for IT across its nine disparate UK visitor centres, working from the charity’s headquarters in Slimbridge. Previously, the poor performance and high latency of the Wan required the use of 20 remote servers.

By implementing Riverbed Steelhead appliances and Riverbed Optimisation System software, WWT was able to optimise bandwidth, network transport and application performance, speeding up data processes by up to 100 times and saving £15,500 on server expenditure.

The project, which involved one member of staff and took 12 months, means now almost all IT problems can be resolved centrally, increasing staff productivity.

Red Dragon Divers

z Pembrokeshire scuba diving club Red Dragon Divers has made a splash with its well-designed, easy-to-navigate web site.

The club believes the site, launched in January, stands head and shoulders above those of other UK diving clubs, despite having been created at no cost by members and one technically-skilled volunteer.

The site includes a news page, dive calendar and photo gallery, as well as information on training and membership. It is regularly updated and the club plans to add underwater video footage shot by a club member. Other additions will include a members-only section and a visitor’s book to encourage feedback about the site which will be used to drive further improvements.

The project was completed in just three months from concept to delivery. As well as improving services to current members, the site is also attracting new ones.

Action for Blind People

z In September 2005, Action for Blind People completed the implementation of a bespoke client and case management system, Action Impact from Infoworks. This has enabled it to provide a holistic, integrated service and improve productivity and efficiency.

The charity offers visually impaired people help with employment, housing and leisure activities, and general advice. Traditionally, each service was autonomous, and the organisation used a mix of incompatible IT and paper-based systems.

It initiated the project in March 2003 to help provide a more client-focused service. The charity needed an integrated system that would improve the flow of information among teams, and avoid duplication.

Users access the system via a web browser, reducing licensing and training costs, and enabling visually

impaired staff to access the system via their usual assistive technology.

PDSA

z Veterinary charity PDSA has successfully automated its pharmaceutical supply and stock-control processes, freeing up resources to plough back into front-line veterinary care.

Previously, keeping the organisation’s 43 PetAid hospitals stocked with the correct level of drugs and consumables was a painstaking, paper-based process that was inefficient, slow and prone to error. Although the relevant information existed electronically, it was stored on disparate systems in a variety of formats.

PDSA’s wholesaler agreed to supply invoices electronically. The charity then developed a web utility in-house to retrieve and integrate the relevant information from the wholesaler’s systems and its own disparate order and financial systems.

Order and goods-received information is now transmitted daily, without the need for human intervention. Information from hospitals is matched to the wholesaler’s electronic invoices and uploaded to the PDSA’s ledger system automatically.

Bullying Online

z Small charity Bullying Online has completely revamped its web site at a cost of just £4,000, providing a comprehensive, easy-to-use service for pupils, teachers and parents alike.

The site includes sections on racism, homophobia, cyberbullying and taking a complaint through the education system, as well as letters for parents to copy out. There is information on anti-bullying policies, body language, making friends and helping others who are being bullied, as well as in-depth advice for teachers and parents on how to tackle the issue.

Since the web site is the public face of the charity, Bullying Online worked hard to ensure it was easy to navigate, with an integrated search engine and separate sections for pupils, teachers and parents.

It is also linked to a major national survey on bullying, which has so far been completed by more than 8,000 people, helping develop future approaches to anti-bullying.